


The Habitat is a Home (For Me and For You)

by Lora_Blackmane



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: (The beginning of) a found family, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, FK is Mute and uses they/them pronouns, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Thats all I really write for this fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 10:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19332382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lora_Blackmane/pseuds/Lora_Blackmane
Summary: Two weeks after the Big Event, Dr. Habit finds someone in the Habitat that he wasn't expecting.





	The Habitat is a Home (For Me and For You)

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to the Discord for this idea. I hope you enjoy :-)

        Despite the bad memories that dwelled within it Habit couldn't bring himself to leave the Habitat. He knew that it wasn't good for his mental health, but he couldn't leave. Not yet; there was something he still had to do here. He just wasn't sure what - Martha had been shut down, everyone had left, he had apologized to them, he had even removed the extra teeth he had placed within his gums. What else did he have to do? Habit didn't have the answer to that question and until he did, he would continue to take care of the Habitat.

       Even if there were no Habitants to populate it.

       Habit used the elevator and descended down the hallway that lead to the courtyard. As he walked he went through the list of chores he had to do today: water the courtyard flowers, clean the Terrance, sweep the loung- What was that?

      ...Maybe he was hea-

      No there it was again. What was that sound?

       Habit walked down the hallway faster, hoping that whatever had made the sound wouldn't move away before he got to the end of it. The sound became louder and louder as he got closer to the hallways end. Whatever was making the sound hadn't moved away.

      It sounded like stones were hitting the ground. Was someone (or something) trying to get in?

      He could see a shadow near the end of the hallway.

      It seemed to be near Wallus' hole; and it hadn't heard him yet.

     More stones hit the ground. Whatever it was, it was trying to climb into the hole in the wall. Was it trying to get out?

     Or was there something in that room it wanted? Habit slowed down as he approached the end, making sure to soften the sound of his footsteps so they wouldn't hear him approach. At the same time whoever had went into Wallus' room was coming out. Everything seemed to stop when he finally saw who it was.

     It was the Flower Kid. Why were they here of all places? Habit had thought they went home after the day of the Main Event. But here they were, their hands and mouth covered in moss and their jacket missing a sleeve (it looked as if someone tore it off). Habit's heart pounded in his ears. How was he supposed to approach this? He could barely approach his own issues still. He stood there for what felt like hours just staring at Flower Kid, trying to figure out how to approach them.

     It seemed like fate had an idea already, and it didn't involve habit making the first move. Instead, Flower Kid had noticed him standing there and quickly scrambled out of the hole, causing them to tear a hole into their pant leg. They caught themself before they hit the ground and, before Habit had even properly processed what had happened, took off running. And after a moment, Habit gave chase. Flower Kid may have been younger; but besides the moss they hadn't eaten much. Habit caught them before they had even made it to the gate's mechanism. They struggled for a moment, failing around in his arms like a fish caught on a line, before becoming still. Dr. Habit looked at them for a moment, trying to gauge if they had truly given up, before he let them go. As he let them down They started to cry. Flower, they must have looked so pitiful. Here they were, tattered clothing and all, sitting on the ground crying in front of the man they had went toe-to-toe with not even 2 weeks earlier. How much more pathetic could you get?

    As they continued to cry on the ground, Habit stood there unsure of what to do. Was he supposed to give them space? Did he try to comfort them? He hesitated for a moment, then he slowly kneeled down to Flower Kid's level. Softly, he started to tell the child comforting words similar to the ones Kamal would say back when he was Habit's assistant. It felt like ages before Flower Kid finally calmed down a little bit. Habit was so happy that they had started to calm down, but was still worried. Flower Kid looked horrible - there were bags bigger than his own under the kids eyes, their face was gaunt, and the arm he could see had bruises on it. The kid had clearly gone through something, but what?

   ...He couldn't help with that right now; he didn't know enough to help and they certainly weren't ready to talk about what happened. But...maybe he could help the kid get a full meal. "I'm going into the Lounge, ok? I think that I have some food locked in the backroom in there that you can eat. Will you stay here for me?"

   Flower Kid nodded and looked down at the ground, tears still running down their cheeks. After getting confirmation Habit ran into the Lounge and into the backroom to search for food to give the kid. He searched through the cabinets and shelves and eventually found something - a pack of crackers and a can of soup. It takes him longer than he'd like to make the soup, but after he puts it in a bowl and heats up he carefully (but quickly) walks back to Flower Kid. They hadn't moved an inch, which made habit sigh in relief. He didn't realize it until now, but he had been afraid that they might have left before he found something they could eat. He crouched down and slowly offered the food in his hands to Flower Kid. Flower Kid didn't register that he was there at first, but once they did they it was if a switch flipped. They snatched it out of his hands, spilling some of the soup onto the ground. They tried to eat it quickly, but Habit stopped them (it was bad to eat too quickly after a person hadn't had a proper meal in awhile, at least that's what Kamal said when he gave Habit that meal calender). They sat there for a few minutes after Flower Kid finished before Habit asked, "Do you wanna talk about what happened?"

     And like that the flood gates opened again. Flower Kid started sobbing in earnest and latched onto Habit for comfort. Habit was startled, but quickly wrapped his arms around the kid. They sat there for awhile before Flower Kid shakily started to sign everything that had happened to them: the abuse that had started when they were a child, the fight that led them to finding the Habitat website, how angry their parents were when they came back to the house.

    So angry that they attacked them in broad daylight outside of their home with their dad's old baseball bat and ripping the sleeve of their jacket off when they tried to run away. It had only been thanks to the neighbors intervening that they had escaped with their lives. They hadn't known where else to go - their family members would blame them for "causing a scene," they didn't have any friends outside of the ones they made at the habitat (and they didn't want to bother them and lose them too). This was the only place they could go to. They'd been hiding in the Habitat for the past week, drinking water from the little pond and eating whatever they could find. By the time they were done, Habit was terrified. He had thought they only shared a love of flowers and smiles when he had told them he was like them, he hadn't realized that wasn't all they shared. Habit made a note to call Kamal later and have him see if the cops had arrested Flower Kid's parents and if they had a missing person's report on Flower Kid. Right now though, he would help Flower Kid by giving them a place to stay. Maybe they could stay in Kamal's old room, that way they wouldn't be alone in the Apartments. Yeah, that could work. Habit gently helped Flower Kid up and led them to his office.

    They helped him find happiness, so Habit would happily be the parent that neither of them were given when they needed one. It was the least he could do.


End file.
